ATLA: After the Insanity
by Randomicity
Summary: YEAH! I fixed the errors from before, so it's fine, now. It works smoothly, and it's every bit as crazy and messed up as the original...Though significantly less flawed. Review, please! FLAME AWAY! Ask me any questions that you come up with!
1. Returning Home

A/N: A few words before we begin. I don't own Avatar (there's my disclaimer) or Chaos or String Theory.

I DO NOT own Khorne or Warhammer 40K or any of the other demons or characters I have listed here. I do not own Taku _or_ Fooly Cooly (though I'm jealous of those who do) Or Black Sabbath or any of their songs or paraphernalia.

I _do_ own the Hellraiser and their abilities and birthrights. (You can use em if you ask me) I _do_ own my mind, although it's on sale on Ebay, which I don't own, either. R+RR and Review after each chapter, please!

This is part 2, by the way. I'm gonna upload part 1 soon, if I can find the damned TIME!

Avatar TLA: After the Insanity II

"According to the map, we should be about ten miles from-- Oh, wait."

"We're lost, aren't we?"

No, we're not _lost,_we're only ten miles West off course."

"You said that _twenty _minutes ago, Twinkle-Toes. Face it, we're _lost."_

"No, we are not _lost. _Hey, Taku! are we lost?"

Taku glanced over from his perch on Appas tail "Naw, Aang, we're not lost."

"See?" Aang grinned triumphantly at Toph, who in turn rolled her eyes.

"I know where we are, exactly." said Taku.

"Where's that?" he squinted at the map with his good eye.

Taku glanced offhandedly at the map in Aangs lap "Oh." he smirked "About fifty miles _East _of where we should be."

Toph and JJ roared with laughter. "And they say _I'm _the blind one."

"Shut up, Toph." said Aang, good-naturedly. He thrust out the rolled-up paper, smiling. "Would _you _like to read the map instead?"

"Not as long as you've got it upside-down, no."

Taku roared with laughter as a snickering Toph pointed to where they were _supposed _to be.

Aangs face now matched the shade of the sun in the sky. "Shut up, guys..."

Chapter One

Returning Home- 2 days later

"Hey, guys!" screamed Sokka, looking ecstatic."HEY, GUYS! THE OTHERS ARE BACK!!"

Zuko, Mai, Hokaida, Katara and Ty-Lee all emerged from inside their home (_their _) running full-tilt towards the descending Air Bison, who roared in relief at the exiting of his passengers.

"Good Job, Appa" praised Aang, who received another roar in reply. He was sideswiped by Sokka, knocking him down in an attempt in a bearhug.

"Sorry, Aang" said the embarrassed Sokka. While digging a toe of his boot into the sand, he noticed Taku and JJ standing nearby. "Who're they?"

"Who're _you?" _a smirking JJ, "Are you an idiot? or are you just _acting _stupid?"

Sokka grinned horribly, still flustered from his collision with Aang, who was standing up. "Doesn't they always say that it _takes one know one?"_

JJ appeared nonplussed, and rolled his eyes "I _doesn't _exactly know _what _they say, man." He folded his arms across his chest, glaring. "You're Sokka?"

Sokka now realized that JJ was egging him on--and it was working-- "So what?"

JJ snapped his fingers abruptly, eyes lighting up. "You got it! _that's _they say!!" He cackled, "Maybe you're not an idiot, after all."

Sokka glowered at JJ, who stared back, until a voice close by them growled "Hey, morons."both turned to find an angry-looking Zuko standing a few feet from them, smilingly sardonically. "I hate to break up your reunion, but-" he forked a finger over his shoulder. "There're bags to unpack, and they're _yours._"

"Oh, yeah" both JJ and Sokka said this, in unison as Zuko disappeared, to be replaced by Katara.

"Hey Aang! Hey, um...Guys." she blushed. "Uh, Aang, who are these guys?"

"We're _guys_," said an ever-sarcastic JJ, whom upon Aang cast a deathly gaze. "What more do you need to know?"

Aang ignored JJ, and smiled at Katara, who gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "How've you been?"

Aang laughed "I've been all right." he grinned, in spite of himself "These _guys_are JJ (who nodded and gave her the "rock-on" sign) and Taku (who also nodded, but gave her the "peace" sign)

"I see." Kataras expression brightened. "Oh, man, wait till you see-"

"TWINKLE-TOES!!" she was cut off abruptly by a screaming Toph. "Couldja' help me down, please?"

Aang turned to assist his girlfriend--_ahem­,­ close _- while an onlooking Sokka smirked and JJ made catcalls, while Katara skewered them with another deathly gaze.

Aang obliged, and mounted Appa to help the blind earthbender down, who was looking slightly green. Toph and Aang leapt from the back of the bison, (Toph making careful sure to land on JJs foot as she did so--who began shouting and swearing--) She then seized Aang around the neck and kissed him forcefully (even for _her)_on the lips. Aang backed away, dazedly, while Katara smacked JJ equally as forcefully on the back of the head, calling him an idiot, a fool, and anything else that came to mind just then.

Toph then glared at a still-smirking JJ, and said "Betcha wish you had that, huh?"

JJ came from behind Toph, tapping her gently on the shoulder. "Not from you, no, and-" he spun her around 180 degrees, and laughed. "I'm over here"

She went to deck him in the stomach--_hard_, as you'd guess-- but was interrupted by Aang, who pulled his friend out of harms way before any trips to the emergency room would be required.

Instead, he was seized around the midsection by Ty-Lee, who screamed "JJ!" sounding delighted "How're you doing!?"

JJ grinned, throwing Aang a wink and Taku a wicked smile (though he had no idea of what it meant) and said "Pretty...Uh, pretty good, Lee."

Taku grinned just as wickedly as JJ had done a moment before, and said loudly "JJ was doing _pretty good, _yeah." the grin reached a level of absolute evil (Aang actually feared for his friends _life_, just then, let alone his _safety_) Taku yawned, looking bored. "Yeah, he was able to date about four girls at once."

There was a few moments of shocked and horrified silence, and then: JJ sputtered wildly in reply while Ty-Lee began hammering every tangible inch of him she could reach (she would've beaten on his mind, too, she just couldn't reach that) as JJ futilely tried to shield himself in-between blows.

"Y-you _moron!" _screamed, infuriated "How _dare_you do such a thing!?" she drew back for a barrage of pressure-points (let's call it the Ty-Lee barrage, shall we?) that would've left him numb (or unconscious, as she was aiming for) Had Taku not tearfully intervened.

"N-N-_No! Lee!"_he gasped, clawing for breath "JJ didn't cheat on you!" he breathed, finally "Trust me, he's completely loyal" (the wicked grin reappeared once more on his face, and JJ took a half-step back) "He's been house trained and everything."

Ty-Lee drew back from an equally thankful-and-angry-looking JJ, confused. "Then, why'd you-"

Aang waved his hands around in the air, while Katara rolled her eyes and Toph rolled in the dirt in hysterics. "I guess he felt like seeing JJ get beat up, is all, Lee."

CLANG

Taku was knocked to the ground as JJs--St. Jimmy's-- guitar impacted with his skull. Taku looked at JJ, no longer smiling, and said "_Esse un po de fuori"_

JJs response was to laugh and say "Actually, Taku, this time _you're _the nut case!!" He frowned, scratching his head. "Man, that sounded weird, normally, you're the calm one." He sighed "Must be losing my touch."

"HEY! AANG! TAKU! JJ! TOPH, KATARA, LEE!" The screamer breathed, momentarily. "DINNER!" It was Zuko, bizarrely, carrying a basketful of bread.

Dinner Table- begin 1st person

Everyone was sitting around the table, eating, drinking, yelling, playing poker. I couldn't really say anything with a mouthful of pasta (nothing that sounded like English, anyway) so I was content to stare mindlessly at everyone else sitting down, while listening to Taku and JJ argue over who'd gotten the better hand, with the unoccupied 98 percent of my brain.

_"Flush!" _cried JJ, laughing. "It still doesn't beat _Four-of-a-Kind!" _leaned forwards, about to take the pot, when I held up a finger, chewing quickly.

JJs smile slipped a notch south of where it usually was, and he said. "What's up, Avatar- I-I mean" he shook his head, embarrassed "Aang?"

I swallowed and smiled, looking at Taku "I've got the same thing as JJ does, but-" I dropped my hand of cards onto the table "Four-of-a-kind to the Queen!"

JJ cursed, grinning at me, while Taku laughed crazily into his glass. "You're lucky, Aang, you only beat me by a few ranks." I picked up the breadstick, using it as a cigar as Taku surfaced, dripping wet, saying "Uh...Wasn't Katara playing?"

_He's competitive,_ I thought, smiling. _He just hides it well, unlike JJ, who's a complete nut case (_snickered at the unexpected irony) _when it comes to this stuff._

I turned around to face Katara, who was chattering animatedly into Zuko's ear, while he listened, nodding every few seconds. She broke off, smiled, and said "I have no idea how to play this game, guys. But-" the smile didn't waver, even as she dropped a Straight Flush onto the table. "What's this worth?"

"You're _joking"_That was Taku. "Unbelievable."

JJ laughed, once again, while taking a drink, he pointed at Katara. "I gotta admit, either that was plain luck or raw skill."

I smiled, raising my glass in a toast (I couldn't think of anything else to do at the time) "I hate you, Katara" (though I said it good-naturedly) and she smiled, flipped me the bird, nudging us on "All-right! another hand!"

I stared at the other occupants of the table over the bridge of my nose (always there, as I could only see out of my right eye) And noticed Toph sitting across from Zuko and Katara, who were once again chatting the same way as before, while Toph stared blankly at the wall.

"Hey, Aang!" cried Taku "Whatcha' got?" (he'd obviously found a good hand, or else he probably wouldn't have bothered me.)

"Just a sec, Taku" I turned around, grinning purposefully, and laid out my hand on the table.

"Fold"

Any lower, and he would've unhinged his jaw.

I sat down beside Toph, who didn't seem to notice me when I sat down--she jumped when I tapped her on the shoulder--

"Hey."

She glanced at me, strangely (she was blind, it was going to be strange whether I wanted it that way or not) "Hey, Twinkle-Toes"

I shifted my weight slightly to one side, and said "So... What's up?"

She glanced at me again, sounding preoccupied. "Oh. Uh. Nothin' much, just thinking. Y'know?"

I grinned at her, then felt like an idiot because she couldn't see it. "What's the matter, Toph?" my grin faded, and I tried to look understanding "What's goin' on?"

"You're trying to look concerned, aren't you?" she laughed. "Nothing's the matter, man. I'm just really _bored."_she lowered her voice, moving closer "What's weird is-" she paused. "When we were under wartime, it was always crazy and chaotic and stuff because there was _always _something to do, yanno?"

I nodded vigorously, not altogether feeling the same way, but understanding what she meant, regardless. "Yeah, I know whatcha mean." I leaned back, sighing "I'm _glad_this war is over, yeah." I looked at her "Though I miss the constant training and being forced to hang out with eachother."

"Yeah. When the war ended, everyone kinda drifted apart, and then we came together again."

I nodded. "Yup. So... You're saying we should spend more time together?"

She gave me a long look. "Is that what you _think _I'm saying?"

Flustered, I searched for a reply. "Well, uh," I scratched my head nervously "I-I...Yeah...I guess so."

She grinned at me, surprisingly. "Cool. Sounds good, Twinkle-toes. Aren't we" she nudged me, smiling slyly _"Close friends?"_

"Ummm... Yes.. Th-that is... If you still _want _to be."

She nodded confirmingly "I'd like that very much."

_Well look at that, I'm not as much as an idiot as I thought!_

The smile was replaced by an expression of sheer malevolence, which fit so perfectly the sentence it came along with. "Wanna play a game, Twinkle-Toes?"

My throat constricted, and my vision went all blurry for a second.

"U-Uh...Wh-What kind of game?" I Immediately brightened "You wanna play cards?"

_I stand corrected, I'm even __more__'ve an idiot than I thought._

She shrugged, giving me an indifferent expression. "Nah, I'm not much into Poker." the devilish smile came back "We could go out back and _fight,_though." the grin widened, contorting her features to the point where it almost _scared _me (this may have just been my mind spinning crazily, trying to figure out what was about to happen to me) "I haven't fought you in _ages, _and the last one was a fluke."

I don't know why I nodded. I don't, I can't figure it out _now, _and I probably never will. But that fight was the domino that knocked everything into a downward spiral.

You know how _one thing _seems to make a _whole ton _of crap _all go wrong, one after the other?_(it works in reverse too.)

Well, the fight wasn't the domino. It was what happened _after _the fight which sent everything on a one-way trip to LoonyLand.


	2. The Downward Spiral

CHAPTER TWO- The downward spiral

3rd person

The backyard looked nothing like it had ten minutes ago. Stones, jagged, razor-sharp stones were arranged in a circular formation across the backyard. Inside this, stood Toph, grinning (although she still felt bad because the fight was another fluke, you'll learn why later) nearby, JJ and Taku were dragging an unconscious Aang from the waters of the swimming pool. Toph ran over to them, being careful not to step on the smaller of the spikes (the largest were over five feet tall)

"Is he okay?" asked a regretful Toph, upon seeing the body of her her close friend ragdoll as it was dragged free from the pool.

JJ grunted, hoisting the still-living body of Aang onto a bench, propping it up to dry. "Yeah, he looks fine, he's just-"

His voice trailed off as the body flopped over, falling off the bench onto the ground.

This time it was Taku who picked up the body, settling it gingerly upon his shoulders and walking the fifteen steps into the house, bound for Aang's room.

Confused? Yeah, me, too. Here's what happened...

Aang and Toph met in the non-destroyed backyard, stances assumed as everyone else watched from a safe distance, making bets on who the winner would be.

Aangs first initiative was to take the defensive--which was good, because if he hadn't, he would've been crushed-- and he backed away from Toph, readying himself for anything she could throw at him.

Note I said, anything _she _could throw at him.

Toph hurled a chunk of earth into the sky, smashing it with a single, well-aimed kick (both Taku and JJ whistled low as they saw this) which split into dozens of _smaller _chunks of earth, which pummeled themselves into the ground--_everywhere except _were Aang was standing--

Aang laughed when he saw this, and chose to jeer "Ya, missed, Toph!" over everyone screaming and running for cover.

He stopped laughing when the boulders--_all of them--_turned into spikes.

"Oh, damn."

Toph gave him her best twisted grin (you really could use _twisted _to describe it) and launched herself into his midsection, knocking the wind out of him. She followed this up with a bizarre sort of doe-si-doe, where she spun him around and then let go, sending him through the neighbors fence.

From the sides, Taku, Zuko and JJ laughed maniacally, while Katara cringed and grimaced. "C'mon Aang!" she screamed. (She was cheering for Toph as well, but she feared more for _his_safety than for Tophs) "YOU CAN DO IT!"

In between gusts of laughter, Taku managed to choke out "YEAH! BITE HER FREAKIN' HEAD OFF!" He and JJ dissolved into laughter once again, while Katara threw them a withering gaze, and Zuko regretted the bet he had placed on the Avatar.

Whether Aang heard them or not, he gave no heed, he himself chose to pick himself out of the debris of the fence, and launch himself into the air.

Toph looked around, searching for "Twinkle-Toes" footsteps, but by the time she found them, it was too late.

She spun around, feeling Aang land _directly _behind her, no doubt about to smash his lights out until her fist impacted with several layers of air.

"Huh?" she turned, momentarily distracted, "Twinkle-Toes! Where'd ya go?"

She could only feel as Aang popped up from underground, this time in _front _of her and she buried him up to his knees in the ground.

"Ouch." said the wincing Avatar. "Nice move, Toph"

She bent down to help him from the ground, smiling.

It was all the movement he needed to bury her into the ground, up to the neck.

"TWINKLE-TOES!" screamed an outraged Toph. "I _swear_if you don't get me _outta here right this second--"_she paused, thinking. "I'M GONNA-"

Aang laughed in reply, saying. "I wish I could, Toph, but I'm buried, too." He sighed. "Hang on."

It worked. Toph came out of the ground, landing solidly on her feet in the center of the ring, while Aang slightly overdid it, sending himself out of the dirt and into the air like a cork from a bottle of fizzy champagne, crashing into the roof, bouncing once, twice, and landing with a loud, final splash in the pool.

_Ouch._ Now that you're not so confused, anymore. Let's continue, shall we?

1st person

_Ow... Man, who's been beating the crap out of my...everything?_

I opened one eye, and saw nothing. Then I panicked for a minute, realized it wasn't my _good _eye (I felt like an idiot) and opened the other one.

I was laying in my bed, inside my room. I had no idea of how I'd gotten there (I remembered something vaguely about the roof and a bunch of water, but not much else) as my head, back, chest, arms, legs and any other extremity I left out cursed themselves for belonging to such an airhead.

So... I was lying here, in my room, with a headache the size of the Black Hole of Calcutta. I didn't really feel like doing anything, so I tried to ignore the throbbing of my skull long enough to fall back to sleep.

_God, I wish whoever was in my closet would shut the heck up, already._

It took me a minute to make sense of that thought. When I did, I lifted my head ever-so-slightly (almost regretfully) off the pillow and spoke hoarsely.

"Who's in my closet?"

There wasn't much of a reply, just a murmur and a low, dark giggle.

_That did it._

I walked as quietly as I could over to the still-dark closet, hanging onto the edge of the bedrail to mask my footsteps even farther (and, I'll admit it, to keep from falling over) and threw open the door.

"AAAAAAAAH!!" screamed the two sets of eyes that started back at me.

"AAAAAAAAH!" screamed the single eye that stared back at them.

_So that's where they'd been... they weren't outside and they were only at dinner for a few seconds..._

Sokka looked at me, grinning stupidly while Suki stared fixedly at the floor.

"Um.." started Sokka. "Hey, uh, Aang!" his face stayed one color, but his feet were jittering madly. "How're you doing?"

I smiled sardonically. "I'm fine, thanks" I said this lightly, as if we were discussing the weather, or something. "Hey, uh, can I ask you something?"

Sokka, now relieved that I wasn't going to punch him began a reply, but Suki overrode him, and she burst into tears.

"I'm S-sorry, Aang!" she wailed. "I-it's my fault, okay? S-sokka and I haven't seen eachother in weeks and I thought it'd be nice to... Y'know"

Whatever my reply was going to be, it was cut off by someone coming down the hallway, I slammed the doors together violently, (On Sokkas fingers, though this _was_intentional) who swore silently. The sound came in the from of Zuko, who glanced at me as he passed by, muttering that I owed him fifty bucks.

I sighed and reopened the doors. Sokka glanced at me, half-grateful, half-angered, massaging several fingers on his left hand, which were turning purple.

"Sorry, man." I said, regretfully, as he and Suki stared up at me.

"Look, I don't care if you two wanna make out in my closet, It really doesn't matter to me, but please, warn me next time, okay?"

Sokka smiled and promised he would, while he and Suki embraced once more, I closed the door, turned off the bedroom lights, and left the room, shutting the door behind us.

I got out to the backyard just in time to see JJ standing over Toph, (grinning, arms folded) as she lay on her knees on the ground (panting, disheveled, gasping for breath) while Taku watched from the sidelines, expression grim.

"HEY!" I screamed, and JJ turned just in time to see both my feet impale his head into the ground by about three inches. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING TO MY-" I broke off. "Uh-."

Two reasons why I screwed up, By Aang:

ONE- I had almost said that Toph was my girlfriend, which we had agreed on _never _to say publicly, lest it start some gooey from of gossip.

TWO- I had run outside, like a moron, not really looking at what was _happening_(though it did sort of look wrong, right?) and concentrated only on what I was _seeing, _over-reacted, and pummeled JJs face into the ground.

JJs response was pick himself up out of the dirt, glare at me and say "Good to see you too, Avatar." He sighed. "Sorry, I know this looks _really bad_, but I wanted to fight Toph because she seems _really good _at it."

I tapped my foot expectantly, but he said nothing. "Well, is she?"

He glanced at me, momentarily distracted. "Yeah she's really good. Um... Why don't you take her into the house?." his face lost all expression. "I need to talk to you."

I took Toph inside, promising I'd be right back and returned to find JJ and Taku standing out back, looking worried "What's up?"

You know we're all Hellrasiers, right?" Taku murmured.

"Yeah, of course." I whispered sarcastically "How can I forget having my soul ripped out?"

Taku smiled slightly, but his face remained grim. "Aang, do you know what happened when I told you that we didn't break any rules by bringing your friends back?"

My expression became one of terror. "Yeah, you said that you didn't break any..." I scowled. "Lemme' guess, you broke some of these rules, and now we're in _huge _trouble, aren't we?"

JJ nodded, "Yeah, and they're sending people up from down south to try and take us back--dead or alive." He smiled grimly. "I know it was a lie, man, but we had good reason to tell you one."

I nodded, and didn't say anything in return.

Taku continued, looking around, as if expecting to be ambushed at any given moment. "We've gotta start training you on how to use that power, Avatar" (he only called me "Avatar" when he was worried or angry at me, same as JJ)" Because if we don't we're gonna all be destroyed, not to mention your friends." He grimaced "Especially your Toph and JJs Ty-Lee."

This was no longer Taku, the calm, controlled kid that I'd come to know standing in from of me. This was Taku, reason, Hellrasier number IV.

I stood up to my full height, smiling grimly back at him. "When and where, man?"

Taku looked even more worried, but he also looked slightly relieved as I said this. He managed a small smile, and JJ did so as well, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Friday, we'll lead you there, seven-o'-clock." he smiled. "It'll be our version of a "Boys Night Out."

I can honestly tell you that I couldn't wait for this to happen...At least, until ten minutes from then.

That Night

Aang lay awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling while trying to make sense of the whirlpool of his thoughts. He was a Hellraiser, sure enough, and _that _meant the people (if you could _call _them people, he knew not _what _to call them) from Hell we're _really _ticked off at him, Taku and JJ.

Though it was all right, though, because Taku and JJ said they'd train him on how to use the powers, and they'd stuck with him even _after _all this stuff had happened.

He sighed, and rolled over. Maybe it wouldn't be _easy_, maybe it wouldn't be _fun_, but he'd try to make it all come out all right.

He had a date with Toph on Friday night, too. And _that _also worried him, what if once he transformed (the word he used to describe the Hellraiser) he wouldn't be able to get back out? He imagined himself showing up, something horrible and disfigured straight out of some American horror film.

Toph would probably never speak to him again.

He couldn't let that happen.

Well, the cards were in his hand, the odds may not be in his favor, but all he could do was lay them on the table, and pray.

He was gambling with his _life_, here.

Outside, in between the patches of mist that drifted from place to place like lost clouds of the Earth, were two men.

They looked normal, just like anyone else, only instead of being bothered by the cold, they gave no heed to it. They wore clothing set too light for this kind of night weather, and on top of that, they cast no shadow.

One man lifted a finger (a normal, human middle-finger) and pointed it towards the blank window of Aangs room. "Is that where he's at?"

The other laughed softly, and pushed the finger back down into his hand. "Don't _point_, you moron, somebody there might still be awake."

The first man shook his head. "No, I ran surveillance on the place, earlier, nobody saw a thing."

The second man looked questioningly at the first, but gave in. "Okay." He exhaled, staring at some of the other windows. "I don't know _where _he's at, but from what

I got, he lives here along with a bunch of other kids and some old water-tribe guy."

"Water-Tribe?" asked the first "All the way in the Earth Kingdom?" He scowled. "Are you _sure _this is the right place?"

"There's no other Hellrasier on Earth besides these three..." he considered something, fleetingly. "Unless-"

The first man cut him off mid-thought "No" he said firmly and clearly. "She's long-gone, man." He sighed "And good riddance, too."

The second man nodded in agreement. "For sure. When-" he yawned hugely, though he didn't feel remotely tired. "When do we go get him?"

The first man shrugged. "The boss said three days from now, which on Earth is what they call Friday."

"So anytime Friday?" said the second, thinking of how it sounded like a date rather than an assault mission.

"Yup."

The two men grew silent, and immobile, until the fog covered them, dragging it back into its recesses until they too, like the fog, disappeared.


	3. Into the Spiral

Chapter Three- into the spiral  
Well, Friday came bright and sunny. Birds chirping, sun shining, the whole bit, everyone more-or-less mirrored this (with the exception of Mai, who was _always _sort of depressed, Taku, JJ, and Aang who were out of their minds with worrying about dates and invading demonic forces, and Hokaida, who was attempting to get the _entire household_, minus himself, enrolled in school.)

As you already well know, something _bad _was going to happen. And _soon._

Aang sat at the kitchen table, staring out the window wondering if the world was somehow mocking him, looking so beautiful and all.

He sighed, drank deep from his cup of coffee (Zukos cooking lessons must be paying off, because this stuff was _good.)_and continued staring out the window, wondering how everything was going to turn out, when all'd been said and done. He was staring intently at essentially nothing, when Taku and JJ appeared from the hallway, looking for him.

"Aang!" cried Taku "There you are, man" He grinned stupidly, a great, flopping sideways grin that threw his whole face off-kilter. "Well, you ready to go?"

"Go where?" said Aang morosely.

JJ spoke up, smiling brightly at him. "Aw, c'mon, man!" he moved in closer, dropping his voice to a low murmur. "We heard about you date--he had to force himself not to choke from laughter at the word-- and we want to get the Hellraiser training out of the way before you guys go..." he smiled. "We wouldn't want you coming back with sixteen-inch claws, spouting fire-"

"JJ" intoned Taku

"Unable to control your most basic emotions, which give way to mindless rage and causes you to kill all of us in a Hell-bent fury of-"

_"JJ"_ growled Taku, now warning him.

"Demonic genocide, would you?"

There was a sharp crunching noise and a cry of pain as Taku seized one of the chairs beside the table and bashed JJ in the head with it as hard as he possibly could. Once JJ had finally regained consciousness, he stabbed an icy glare in Taku's direction and said "What, you're saying he'd _want _that to happen?" Taku made a sound that could've indicated either humor or disgust, and he said.

"No, I don't think he'd want that to happen, JJ, I just think you'd better _keep your voice down _or else we're gonna be in some _deep _trouble."

JJ nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." he scratched his head, embarrassedly "I just wanted him to get the general idea, is all." He turned towards Aang, smiling. "So man, you ready to go, or what?"

Aang'd been ready to go since three-o-clock that morning.

1st person

We arrived at what Taku called "Playland" at about four P.M. that afternoon. Himself and JJ had already transformed into Hellraisers, and were attempting to instruct me to do so. (Well, JJ was, anyway, Taku had gone off to scout out the surrounding area in case anyone was nearby)

JJ stood about ten feet to my left, shouting instructions to me with a mixture of handsigns, mimed commands, and shouted stuff that I could barely understand, stuff like "_If you don't grow wings the first, time, it's no problem! I know how to rip them out and make sure it doesn't hurt!"_and "_I wonder __what'd happen if you lost control once you finally transform and ended up killing us all!" _, I understood that, I just didn't _want _to.

Sometimes, I swear I _hated _that guy. JJ had me in some bizarre position (touch your knee and try to raise it up as high as it will go) when I'd finished that, he had me do a bunch of handsigns that resembled that shadow-puppetry junk the street performers do in Ba-Sing-Se. He was scratching his chin when Taku returned, _really _ticked off.

_"JJ! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"_ He wasn't shouting, but if he was, you could've heard it in another dimension, his voice was so angry.

JJ turned, momentarily distracted, as Taku tore into the clearing, smashing a fist into his forehead. "_Idiot!"_huffed Taku. "I can't believe you'd do that! _DO YOU REALIZE THAT WE'VE GOTTA TEACH THIS KID OR ELSE HE'S GONNA GET KILLED!?"_

I think that even JJ was afraid of him just then. Out of nowhere, he turned to me and said, softly. "Alright, Aang do exactly what I do, no more, no less."

"O-okay" I followed his movements (which were nothing like the ones JJ had shown me, as I now expected) Until he stood, hands by his sides, and took about forty steps backwards in a matter of seconds. From behind me, I heard a noise-

_RIIIIIIP, CRUNCH!_

I turned, shocked, but couldn't see what was happening, thanks to my blind eye. I _felt_, rather than saw, something huge emerge from where my shoulder blades were a moment before (_wings_, some part of my mind told me, _you're got wings) _my body grew larger, muscle tearing, bones shattering and mending themselves--and it hurt like almighty Hell-- until I _saw _my skin melt off of me like wax from a candle, to be replaced with the armored scales I'd seen before on JJ (not Taku, his Hellraiser wore a white robe and carried a sword) and some weird, red-and-black tattoo design that was painful to look at, but still cool, nonetheless.

My face melted off, leaving me sightless for a moment, until the world exploded in a kaleidoscope of myriad colors--the stuff they say only druggies can see-- and was replaced by what I'd seen only moments before--normal, everyday colors-- only much brighter.

I found my voice after what seemed like an eternity, and spoke "What- What happened?" I opened my mouth, full of teeth that would make a _butcher _cringe in terror, and breathed. "Did it.. Did it work?"

From in front of me, JJ was getting to his feet, expression grim, guitar in hand. While Taku was unsheathing his sword, fighting back tears.

"I'm sorry, Avatar" he said shakily "It didn't work, I guess your body wasn't meant for it." He let out a regretful sigh, choked with sadness "We've no choice but to kill you, now."

My mind went blank. For a minute, they stood there motionless, until JJs mouth began to twitch, and Taku burst out laughing. Leaving me feeling like a total buffoon.

"What's so-" I groaned, rolling my eyes. "You're both _morons, _you know that?" I smiled at their stupidity (and my own, the transformation had hurt, sure, but it wasn't painful _enough _to've gone _wrong_.)

Taku began clapping and cheering, while JJ clapped me on the shoulder, congratulating the newest Hellraiser in over a million years (which made me wonder just how old these guys really _were_) until JJ spoke, expression deadset.

"Avatar, it's not a joke, you know?" the expression deepened (it was _deadset,_so it couldn't _lessen_) until he spoke, again.

"This is a weapon we've given you, just now, and we'll both try and help you with it as best we can. but-" he broke off casting his hand off to one side, as Taku finished. "It all depends on what you _do _with it." He was smiling, but his eyes remained cold. "You can listen to us, and we'll save this planet, and, most likely this entire _dimension _from the idiots that're trying to kill us and everyone else in it." He sighed. "Or you could go your own way, have us hunt you down, and destroy you molecule by molecule."

It only took one glance into his eyes to prove to me that he wasn't joking. This was do-or-die, regardless. The only choice was that I could _do_, and survive alongside them and my friends, or go against them, and inevitably _die._

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what choice I took, just then.

Hours passed, things were done, and I was taught (haphazardly) the basics of Hellrasier fighting, (speed, stamina, applied force, etc.) techniques (like combining earthbending and firebending to make lava, and the like) and control (when I finally began fighting, I made JJ bleed a small bit and had nearly torn him limb-from-limb)

At long last, Taku settled himself down on the ground nearby where JJ and I lay, and looked at me.

"Avatar, man." he said "You'd better remember what we said to you, and _pray _that you don't screw it up." He gave me a stern look, but under it was warmth "If you _don't _screw this up, maybe--"

He was cut off abruptly as JJ made a noise like an angry cat. He crawled silently to his feet, and whispered. "Someone's here." Taku immediately withdrew his sword from his sheath, holding it in front of him, looking at JJ who whispered _"West."_

I followed the two, feeling like an idiot because I possessed neither sword nor guitar, until Taku saw me empty-handed and whispered for me to reach behind my back and pull. I did so, feeling an eerie separating of skin and muscle to withdraw a massive, bluish-colored broadsword which turned red at my touch. I looked at JJ, mouthing "How the _hell _do I swing this thing?" He laughed silently, touched the sword and spoke very clearly "Split."

I was now holding a pair of reddish-colored Kodachis, which held the elemental symbol for something I couldn't read at the center.

I didn't see that guy the come from behind me until JJ hacked off his head in one swing. I screamed, drenched in blood and something black and gooey I didn't want to identify until I turned around to see Taku grab _another _person, this time by the throat, and tear his head cleanly off, dropping the body, and sighing.

"I hate killing people, Avatar, but sometimes it's the only alternative." I didn't argue, I felt exactly the same way, only I _wished _it wasn't the only alternative. Instead, I surveyed the black stuff that had covered me like some sort of parasite, and said "What's _this _stuff?" Taku's reply was to laugh and say "That's what it looks like when we kill demons, Avatar." He grinned, though it was half-hearted and sad, "They're coming to get us, obviously, only I don't think _they _knew _we _knew that they were here."

I pondered that for a minute. "So... we took them by surprise?" I frowned, having hit a snag on the thought. "Wait, when did they get here, exactly?"

JJ wrenched free his guitar from the body of one of the would-be assassins, which flopped weakly on the ground. "I think they were here as of Wednesday, when you and Toph had that bout."

_Toph..._

Oh, damn. I had promised that I had a Date with her, tonight. At Seven-Thirty, and it was now Seven-Fifteen.

_Oh, damn._

"Uh, guys?" I asked nervously. "How exactly do I ummm... become _un_Hellrasier?" Taku didn't answer my question, neither did JJ. Instead, he thew his guitar at my face, and I blacked out.

_Total darkness, total, infinite, intangible darkness._

So I needn't really tell you that I couldn't see a thing, right?

I opened my good eye, and looked around, hoping to see _anything _besides nothing, and saw the ceiling of my room.

_Shoot, what time is it? Hell, come to think of it, is it even still Friday?_

Turns out it was, and my date was in ten minutes. I finally became aware of this as Taku appeared in my line of sight and started screaming "You got TEN MINTUES TO GET READY, AANG! _MOVE!" _leapt to my feet, like a moron and somehow managed to grab a change of clothes (as my other ones were badly bloodstained and sticky from the black goo) run into the hallway and seize a towel, run into the bathroom and water-bend myself a shower, complete with washing my hair and the other stuff you normally do, towel off, run into my room again, forget what I was going to do and finally realize after driving myself insane to change my clothes and meet Toph in the hallway, who looked nothing short of beautiful.

I couldn't believe this, but she was blushing. "How do I look?" she said, honestly.

_Whoa_...

"Uh...Umm..You look really, _really _good."

She nodded and laughed, as if she expected that particular response, took my arm and dragged me out of the house.

That was the most fun I'd had in _ages_. (I meant the _date_, not her dragging me out of the house)

3rd person

The first thing Aang noticed was his head. It hurt to the point where he wanted to scream, or throw up, or maybe do both at the same time. Regardless, it hurt, and it sank like a dank cloud over his skull, unmoving, like an old, rusted-out car held up on nothing but cinderblocks.

Come to think of it, that's _exactly _how he felt, right then. He opened one bleary, bloodshot eye to find himself in his own room, in his own bed, in his own house. As opposed to the someone's backyard garden or kitchen sink. He sat up, (after about four tries) and took a look around, wondering what the hell'd happened last night to make him feel like he did now. As his vision cleared, he realized something that nearly stopped his heart.

_This wasn't his room_, it was his house, yeah, but not his room.

Which could only mean one thing--nothing good. He took a look around himself--he didn't want to, _God knows s_he didn't want to-- and found himself to be in Tophs room, in her bed, beside _her,_who was sleeping soundly.

His heart went from Bass-Drum level to Jackhammer level in a matter of nanoseconds, the air was sucked from his lungs, his face lost all color and he nearly blacked out, he attempted to extract himself as quietly as he could from the bed--his clothes were still on, thank the Gods-- hoping that nothing would wake the still-sleeping Toph.

As usual, something went horribly wrong. Katara entered the room, carrying a basketful of what appeared to be Tophs clothing, saw Aang halfway out of the still-occupied bed, and screamed as loudly and terribly as she could.

As for Katara, nothing too terrible happened to her after this.

As for Aang, well, let's just say that the people in the next few towns became wonderfully aware of his existence.

THE FOLLOWING WEEK...

_"School?"_ asked a disbelieving JJ, "You're seriously going to send us all to _school?"_Hokaida shrugged in return. "Yeah, I'm going to send all of you to _school_, now that the war's over, we need to get as much normalcy _back _into our lives as possible."

Aang really couldn't believe it, either. How in Gods name were they to go back to school, when they had _D__emons _chasing them down? He chose not to argue, though, and merely shrugged when Hokaida asked his opinion--eyes saying _back me up, here--_and spoke "I don't know, it doesn't sound like a _bad _." Which earned him a swift glance from Taku and a razor-edged one from JJ. Sokka thought the idea wasn't all bad--more time to spend with Suki-- and whether Ty-Lee, Mai, and Toph wanted to voice their opinions or not, they still said nothing.

All that was left was Katara, who was the deciding beam that would uphold them into this lunacy that they'd _already _created, and became accustomed to. Or send them all plummeting down into their futures (now you get it, the Downward Spiral thing) that would present with a fresh, brand-spanking new supply of some.

As usual, something went terribly wrong. School, it seemed, for the "Gaang" was in session.

Just to give you a list of stuff that you'll be seeing later, here's some of the problems that they'll have to face.

1. Hellraisers

2. The incident with Toph (she hadn't spoken to him since then, and spends most of her time either in her room, fighting, or avoiding him completely)

3. How to get back _together _with Toph (if you could actually call it being together)

4. School in general (the war was over, kids may hold some pretty loopy ideas over what'd happened, as well)

5. How to keep your world from collapsing in on itself.

If they manage to make it through this, they could easily write a book.

SCHOOL

West Ba-Sing-Se High

3rd person

Aang stared at the huge building looming in front of him, lurking in the shadows like some sort of monster. It was a tall, four-story building with many windows, and doors all painted some forresty green color. The building itself was redbrick, which had faded to a dull pinkish color from time, wear, housing so many teenagers at one time, or a combination of all three. He sighed, watching the students come by the boatload, until he, too, decided to accompany them. Once inside, he was to go to what you would call the "front office" to pick up his schedule. He did so, and progressed miserably down the hallway towards his first prosecutor.

"Mr. Nomad, please feel free to answer the question any time." Mr. _Nomad_, who could ask for a more bizarre last name than _that?_Aang was sitting next to Sokka, who was intently carving his name into the surface of the desk, having already finished his work for the time being. While Aang was daydreaming out the window, staring at the bleak sky and wondering how the world could've done this to him.

"Mr. _Nomad" _his fifth-period teacher in an "This-is-all-I'm-gonna-take-from-you-and-you're-gonna-get-_hurt"­_sorta voice, until Aang snapped free from his reverie and "rubberbanded" himself back towards the present. He looked at the balding, red-faced man in front of him (who vaguely reminded him of an overripe tomato) and said "Yes, sir." with just the right amount of annoyance. "The answer is X sixteen."

Whether the teacher was angry or not about not catching him off- guard, he didn't say anything. He continued droning on like an old vacuum cleaner until the bell rang, releasing them all to lunch.

1st person

The lunchroom was just like anything you'd expect. Connected with a "commons area" which held the various cliques of students as they sat around, talking about who-knows-what (anything from Chaos Theory to Black Magic and Demonology, or how Suzie's purse looked awful on her, or the upcoming dance this weekend.)

To Aang, it really didn't matter what anyone or anything said to or about him. He sat at the table along with JJ, Taku, Toph, (who was determinedly paying him no attention) Sokka, Katara, Ty-Lee, and Suki, while Mai could not be seen anywhere nearby. Nor could Zuko, until he joined them a few seconds later, dropping his tray alongside Katara's own with a weary sigh.

"I think I'm already beginning to hate this place."

Katara tried to look and sound reassuring (thought it was difficult through the mouthful of meatloaf she had recently swallowed--which looked and tasted like cardboard--) "I'm sure it's not only you, Zuko" she gave him her sweetest grin "There's nobody here who actually _wants _to be here, babe"

Zuko cringed slightly at the word, then nodded boredly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." He noticed me listening to them and said "Hey, Avatar, how was _your _day?"

I shrugged. "Bout the same, really, I spent most of my time either daydreaming or watching Sokka (who was now liplocking with Suki) carve his name into the desk." I continued sharply, before Katara could chastise me "But I got my work done, at least."

Zuko laughed. _Zuko _laughed.--who, last year, had tried to kill me repeatedly-- At something _I _had said. "Seems pretty boring, huh?"

I nodded an agreement, now staring at the wall "Yeah, I wish there was something interesting to do around here, but it's _school_, if it was meant to be interesting, then they'd change the spelling to something other than P-R-I-S-O-N-"

This gained me a laugh from Katara and a slight smile from Zuko, who was now staring at something behind me on the wall. "There's a dance, this weekend, you know."

"What, are you asking me to the dance, Zuko?" I said, grinning wryly.

His smile faded. "No, moron, I figure that we could find something to do there, Y'know, maybe cause some trouble?"

In that minute, I think I actually started to like him. "Now, you're speaking my language" I said. "We should go as bunch of Fire-Nation soldiers and totally freak everyone out."

He smiled again, thinly. "Just as long as you don't overdo it, I don't see why that's not a bad idea."

And with that the deal was set. As long, boring weeks go, we couldn't _wait _Saturday night.

WEDNESDAY... 1ST PERSON--TOPH.--

This was _so _. Here she was, trapped inside this stupid desk inside of this _stupid _classroom in front of this _stupid _book she couldn't read—that she didn't even care to read--listening to some annoying old weirdo ramble on and on about the Greek Gods, or something. She was staring at nothing, feeling the raised indentations of long-forgotten students--that probably thought this was just as stupid as she did-- that were carved into the desk. Stuff like "So-and-so chugged So-and-so's rod" "Crips 4 Lyfe" the infamous "One Blood" symbol and a short-but-vulgar conversation between two students about "Whose momma was more of a Ho" She grinned at the last one, having read it two or three times to get the full meaning of some of the insults (though she wasn't an idiot) until the teacher pinpointed her for being "mentally absent."

"Miss Bei Fong, you must have heard me say _repeatedly--_"

_God, this guy is annoying, I just wish he'd shut up, already._

"Still you insistently _refuse _to pay the _slightest _amount of attention to anything I'm saying--"

_He has nothing better to do but teach us this stuff, doesn't he realize that __no one's __paying him any attention?_

"If I have to continue telling you this, Miss Bei Fong, I will have no choice but to resort to disciplinary actions."

_Was this guy for real? he sounds more like an assistant principal than some teacher..._

Both their trains of thought were broken, momentarily, as the person in question came over the loudspeaker, requesting Toph to the "front office."

_Thank God, I might be in trouble _(though she couldn't remember doing anything wrong just yet) _but at least I can get away from this idiot..._

Toph rose from her seat, not bothering to accept a pass from the Teachers outstretched hand, and left the classroom, bound for the office.

She entered the office, and was immediately seized and pulled into an iron hug. She gasped, tried pulling away, and was dragged even further into the suffocating body in front of her.

_"Toph!"_ screamed a voice, one voice that was joined by another, both of the two on her "People-I'd-Never-Like-To-See-Again-" list, right under Aang, the Avatar and various members of the Earth Rumble competition. She drew back, fighting the shock which was producing the urge to throw up, and choked out a reply.

"M-Mom?" she gasped, "D-Dad?" and the _sad _thing is, mostly when you see those lines of dialog together, in a scene much like this one. The characters in it were _happy. _The _sadder _thing is, Toph was _anything _but happy. Confused, furious, enraged, maybe. But nowhere remotely _near _happiness.

"Toph!" cried her father "We've been so worried about you!" he took a shaky breath "A-after the war was over, you n-never came back home, and we figured that you'd been--"

Her father broke off, but there was no need to finish his sentence. Instead, her mother picked up right where he left off, saying equally as sadly.

"When the search party we'd sent out for you (consisting of the homicidal maniac she could no-longer remember the name of) came back empty-handed, your father and I went berserk!"

_Oh, really? _she thought bitterly _Then what do you call what you guys were doing before? Keeping me __locked away in my own home under complete secrecy was normal?_she scowled _I guess that's what you do to princesses, now, huh?" "Fragile, handle with care?"_

She _was _a princess, she just didn't feel like _being _one. Her mother continued crying, while her Father said something that stopped her heart from beating.

"We must get her home as soon as possible, Mr. Assistant Principal" Though the tone was kind, the underlying message said "Do it, or I'll own you" and as much as Toph disliked her parents, she had to give him credit for it. Though what he said _next _made her wish she'd never even considered the thought.

"Of course" replied the Principal (or the assistant one, she wasn't really sure) in his best butt-kissing voice, he replied "We'll take care of this as quickly as possible, Mr. and Mrs. Bei-Fong." he nodded vigorously, and Toph could almost _see_the sweat drenching his forehead. "We just need to transfer her school records over to you, and she's yours."

Her father nodded approvingly--she felt him do it-- and said "Of course, thank you very much." he gave a thin smile and added "I'm sorry if this is too much of a bother, but we have found Toph a suitor, of about her age, whose family wishes to marry them."

_Wait. WHAT!?_

_Suitor!? _the word felt foreign even to her mind. She could almost _feel_her face turning the color of Valentines Day. Which this was decidedly _not._

Her parents took the expression and color of her face (shock and rage) for relief and abyssal elation. Well, they were right about one thing, what she was feeling was _abyssal_, all right, but it wasn't anything close to _elation_.

Toph could only stare in horror as her parents set up her future for her, just like they'd done before, before she'd left them.

_Didn't they learn anything from me doing this last time?_

As if on cue, her Mother and Father turned away from the assistant principal, wishing him a good day and whatever else they said (she didn't want to listen to them)

looked at her, promising that they'd be back in three days to take her home with them--_whether she was ready or not--_

Though it _was _in the same country, yeah, her home away from Ba-Sing-Se had never seemed so far away.

_Home._

1st person

The first day at school was lame, as all first days go. We got nothing accomplished, filled out those stupid little identification cards that give you information on where you live, who you live with, what to do if you're bleeding from the head or suffering from a violent asthma attack, etc. We'd walked home, _we _meaning Sokka and I as Suki, Katara and Zuko were nowhere to be found. Sokka didn't really say much, but what he _did _say left me feeling kind of idiotic.

"What's up, Aang?" he gave me one of his trademark grins "I haven't talked to you in awhile." his face sank slightly, looking apologetic "I've been spending all my time with Suki."

"Nothing's up, really, Sokka." I replied half-heartedly "I'm still in shock about how _stupid_the staff and the other kids are at that school." I laughed sarcastically

"One of the preppy girls said that I looked like her little brother, and then told me to go the hell away because she couldn't stand him."

He glanced sideways at me. "I hate cliques"

I glanced sideways back. "I know" I shoved my hands into my pockets "It makes me wonder why people even bother to try and _make _themselves do it, because sooner or later they all crash down into the same damned social status anyway."

"True." He laughed "Just in case you haven't noticed, we're about the _weirdest _clique I've ever seen."

I chose not to argue with that (not that there was sufficient room to) "Yeah, you're right."

He paused a moment before continuing "So... Uh, you going to the dance Saturday night?"

I gave him my best sardonic smile "Sorry, Sokka, Zuko already asked me at lunch."

He made a noise halfway between laughter and a groan. "Shut up, Aang." he smiled. "No, seriously, are you going to take Toph?"

"She hasn't talked to me in weeks, and I don't think she wants to start anytime soon."

He stared at me for a second, considering this. "So? You should go talk to _her."_

I looked back at him, considering that. "But-"

He cut me off with a swift glare. "Just shut up and do it, there's _no way_you're going to show up at a dance, alone." the glare softened, and he smiled twistedly "Besides, you could just _make_her go, and then fix everything up while you're there."

Maybe he was right...Maybe he was wrong... I had no clue, so I could only cross my fingers and try.

_Home_

3rd person

Chapter Four-- The Blind Date

Toph felt miserable. Everything was crashing down around her, just like it had after the war... Sokka'd died, leaving her scarred and torn, still, she'd kept up her normally stubborn attitude because she'd feel too less like herself if she didn't. Right now, her life'd gone completely haywire, with the sudden arrival of her parents to whisk her away to marry some boy who she didn't even know the first letter of the name of. She just had three days left here, which seemed like an impossibly small amount of time to decide if you were going to be married or not.--and she'd rather have _not--_

She was also worried about her friends. Aang in particular, whom she had not spoken with for weeks, and was wondering (regretfully) if he was thinking the same thing. She had cried that day after school, walking home alone, as she didn't really feel like being bothered. Aang was an idiot, yes, but he was her best friend, if not still close friend. She still liked him, and wanted to talk to him, but wasn't really sure of _how._

Aang wasn't home at the moment, though. He was out doing something with JJ and Taku, which Taku had called "New Firebinding Techniques" she doubted this, as Zuko had told her (with a slightly twisted smile) that Taku couldn't firebend as much as she could see colors.

So that means he was lying... Only she wasn't quite sure about _what._The entire thing sounded kinda stupid, though, what would Twinkle-Toes have to hide?

Another girl? The thought sprang to her mind before she could delay its passage. And she scowled, at herself for letting Aang get to her like this, and Aang, who wouldn't even bother _look_at her recently, let alone talk.

One thing was for certain, if she didn't find out, it would drive her insane. And leave Aang most likely in the ER of a nearby hospital.

All she could do _right now _was to sit and wait for him to come home, and maybe strike up a conversation--not only about the "lessons" but about themselves, as well.

On top of that, nobody knew that she was going to be leaving in three days time. Unless some sort of miracle occured, she'd most-likely never see Aang or any of her friends again.

_Why does reality suck so badly?_

1st person

I arrived home shortly after eight o' clock. Tired, weary and my shoulders hurt like heck from where the wings had retracted back into them.

The good news is: I had mastered a bunch of new techniques, including Blackfire (Darkness-fueled Chaos Flame) Hellfire (Lightning-fused Chaos Flame) and had mastered (or so I hoped, this part was incredibly painful) the sub-element of sound. Though the Hellraiser was wickedly cool, it did kinda scare me when I saw Chaos flame completely obliterate about forty miles worth of land. (Thankfully, this was in the middle of the desert--nobody was around to see it--)

The bad news is: While I was succeeding at my Hellraiser training, I was also failing _miserably _at life.

I wanted to talk to Toph because she would _listen, _not try and help me solve all my stupid problems as Katara usually would. This was much easier said than done, though, because once I go and talk to her, I just might never be seen again alive.

I was standing outside the door, palms sweating, heart racing (you've seen this before, right?) and trying to force myself not to turn around and forget that I'd ever done this. Raising a shaking left hand, I knocked twice on the door.

"Toph, are you in there?" I said, trying to keep the quaver out of my voice. There were a few minutes of silence, and then.

"Yeah, Twinkle-Toes, I'm in here." I was either going to get this right, or lose my mind standing there.

"Uh, can I come in...?" There were another few minutes of silence, and then, gloriously.

"Yeah, I guess so."

I opened the door to her room, seeing Toph herself strewn across the bed with a box of tissues in front of her, and an empty suitcase on the floor.

I'm no genius at math, but when I added those up, I got what I usually got --_bad--_

Toph lifted herself up off the bed, hair hanging down over her eyes and whispered "What do you want, Aang?"

I sat down on the floor by the foot of her bed, just out of reach in case she tried to smash me. "I wanted to talk to you."

She smiled sickly "I'm _fine_, see?' she spread her arms as if to show me just how _fine _actually was.

"Bullshit." The swearword shocked her as much as it did me. I didn't know why I'd said it, but it seemed to be the only thing to sum up what I was thinking.

Again with the sick smile "No, seriously, Twinkle-Toes" the smile was now forced to the point where it was scaring me. "I'm _fine."_

I smiled grimly in return "Toph, right now you're about as _fine _as Katara was at Sokka's--"

Oh, Damn. JJ and Taku had wiped their memories of his death and their own...

I'd screwed up. Big time.

"Sokka's _what?"_

I shook my head rapidly from side to side. "Sokka's first date with Suki." I didn't like to lie, but it was the only thing I could think of.

Her feet weren't touching the floor, and she was lying on top of a bedspread. Thank God she couldn't feel my heart jump about 2500 RPM.

She smirked. "Yeah, I remember that." she sighed and rolled over to face me. "What do you _want_, Twinkle-Toes?"

"I already told you, I want to talk."

she shrugged. "Talk away."

"No, seriously, I was going to apologize for...Yanno...waking up in..." my voice trailed off as my face turned the color of the setting sun outside.

"So? we didn't _do_ anything."

We both turned scarlet at the word.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." I stood there, shamefaced."I was a little drunk, and... I didn't touch you, though."

"So now you're saying that it wouldn't be any good?"

I laughed, and mentally slapped myself because I wasn't sure if I should've done it.

"Nevermind." I turned around. "I know there's something still nagging you, though."

She yanked me downwards, back onto the floor and held me down while she told me everything. Exactly what I _didn't_ want to hear.

"You're _joking"_

She glanced at me, sadly. "Nope."

I shook my head in disbelief "Oh, my God I can't believe they'd come back, _years _later, after _all _this stuff had happened, and expect to take you back home just like." --I snapped--

_"That."_

"I know, right?" She smiled, "And here's the best part, they want to take me back because they found me a _suitor." _she spat the last word as if it were something poisonous.

I was numb--with anger, mostly-- "You're saying _to me _that they want to _take you back,_just because they'd found you a _suitor!?"_

"Yup, that pretty much sums it up."

"When're they supposed to get here?"

"They said Saturday, whether I was ready to go _or not" _she sneered at this last part. "Amazing, huh?"

I nodded. "Very" I snickered as a sudden, evil idea came to mind

"What's so funny?"

"Are you going to that dance, Saturday?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"Are you going to that dance Saturday?"

"Twinkle-Toes, this isn't funny--"

"Don't make me repeat it again" I said, sounding tired (which I was)

She turned red, suddenly, and looked away from me "I- I don't know... Are _you _to that dance, Saturday?"

"I've got nothing _better _to do, so I figure I'd _better, _or risk going postal with boredom."

She laughed wetly, it was amazing how she could look so good even when her eyes were puffy from tears, and she was a total emotional mess, in general.

"Didn't you and Zuko plan some sort of a prank?"

My smile slipped a notch. "Oh, yeah." I sighed. "Are you going, or are you not?"

"I am, but not with you."

"F-fair enough" I stammered, "Might I ask who you're going with?"

"Some boy who I met in my math class just after my parents showed up. His name's Daryl."

And with that statement, my hit list grew five-letters longer. "Okay, so you'll come?"

She stared at me for a few seconds "Yeah, I just said so, _why _are you so stuck up on getting me there?"

I gave her my best evil grin--and made sure that she could see it-- "I can't _help _you if you don't even _show up_."

Ignoring her reply, I left the room, shutting the door behind me, feeling like a complete moron.

_"Some boy I met in math class, his name's Daryl."_

_Great..._


	4. New beginnings, old end

SATURDAY NIGHT

The Dance

_So this is it._ I felt sick, not like ill sick, but uneasy-sick.Wait, that makes me sound angry, and that's not how I'm feeling either. _Damn. _In any case, my stomach felt like the inside of a hurricaine.WAIT, the inside of a hurricane is _calm_, right? _Shoot. _Um, okay, the _outside _of a hurricane. That about sums it up, yep. So I'm sitting here drinking some sort of strawberry-punch stuff, which tasted remarkably like lead. Or maybe that was the taste of fear in my mouth, I didn't know, because I wasn't afraid. Not at all, not at all, _noooooo. _The inside of my stomach continued churning crazily, maybe something's in the _punch?_Yeah, that had to be it, something is in the punch that was making my stomach churn, my palms sweat, and my head feel as if I'd inflated it with Helium or something. So I'm sitting here drinking some sort of strawberry-punch... Wait, I already said that, oh _crap _now I'm losing my mind. Great! I make it through a stupid _war_, sell my soul to the Devil and I have to go insane _now?_I raised the cup of punch to my lips, again, only it wasn't there, because I'd spilled it all over the floor--and my pants--.

_DAMN!_ Keep cool, Aang, just keep cool. Be like Taku, think like Taku, control, _relax,reason. _It didn't cool me down any because I was already clammy like a fish out of water, not to mention breathing like one. This wasn't from nerves, right? It couldn't be because Toph was bringing somebody to the dance. Toph could do whatever she wanted, I'm only her friend, it's not like I've gotta watch out for her every single day I'm alive (which, given my past was gonna be _a lot _of days.) _and _was back, so I could consider my promise to him Null and Void. Right? _Right?_

I was sitting in this chair, drinking this punch, listening to somebody scream about how "He's not okay" and wishing I could drown myself in the solace of Heavy Metal, and not Emo bands. I _hate cliques_, did I tell you that? Wait, no, that was Sokka, I think _he _did. Regardless, we both hate cliques, and right now this dance was made up of about 70 Emo, 10 prep 15 Goth and whatever was left over was what you could call "outcasts"--meaning us.-- My pants were drenched, my shirt was soaked and I felt like the inside of a dishwasher, except I was _cold._

"Hey, Aang!"

_Oh, God no._

It was a cheerful-looking Sokka, carrying a glass of punch and a deck of playing cards. He ignored my evil eye and said "Wanna game?"

Well, he ignored me when I said _no,_didn't he?

We played a few rounds of Poker, I won most of them (I'm no idiot when it comes to Poker and fighting--only to romance) Until Sokka, looking determined, bet me fifty bucks that he could beat me at Crazy Eights. I won every single one of those, too.

BlackJack? (or 21) the same result. We played BS with a few other people, I won those as well, Spades? Yup. Go Fish? Yup.

Sokka was now becoming desperate, and was hurling card games to me at random, while _he _was becoming more and more, well, Sokka-ish. _I _actually calming down. He _was _a genius, even if it was intentional or not.

Sokka sat back, defused, and handed me the fifty bucks I'd won. I started to refuse, but then I remembered my debt to Zuko and _another _brilliant scheme came to mind...

"Uh, Aang?" It was Sokka, apparently I'd been so lost in my own thoughts that I'd completely disregarded him.

"What?" I snapped.

"Uh... You'd better go change, or something, because Zuko just got here and he's bringing everyone together for this stunt or whatever you were gonna do." He smiled "You need some help, still?"

"Sure...sure, Sokka. Go ask Zuko and see whatever needs to be done. I've got an idea and I want to finish it before Toph gets here--"

"Wasn't Toph supposed to be coming with you--?" his brow furrowed. "I thought she was--" his face fell. "She broke up with you, didn't she?"

"We weren't dating."

He put on that smug grin that unnerved me and made me feel even better all at the same time. "Yes, you were." the grin widened by about three centimeters "Go..."

"Her parents are coming to get her, man. I don't know when they're going to g_et _there, but all she told me was that they said was Saturday Night."

Sokka looked dumbstruck "_What!?"_

I was figuring out a reply, when I saw something that turned my veins to ice. Toph came through the double-doors, arm-in-arm with some kid who I took to be "Daryl from math class" My stomach, instead of a dishwasher, became a _furnace_. I clenched my fists by my sides a few times, _forcing _myself not to do something stupid and irrational (_think _like Taku, _be _like Taku) until Zuko appeared by my blind side, scaring the Hell out of me. (Don't I wish)

Needless to say, all my calm went flying out the window.

"Here, Avatar, it's a Fire-Nation uniform and I _think _it's in your size. Go put it on and meet me by the back exit in five minutes." He looked at me and immediately leapt three feet into the air. _"Did you--"_

"No, Zuko, it's _punch_. I'm nervous"

"Over what?" he mused "We're not going to _destroy _anything--"

"No." I shook my head and sighed. "It's not important right now." I snatched the bag from him and said "Five minutes, okay."

As I was walking away, I heard him say "It's the girl, isn't it? The blind one?" I didn't answer his question, but I didn't have to turn around to tell that he _knew _he was right.

_This is it_. Sokka and myself were gathered around the rear exit, staring at Zuko like he was about to grace with some nugget of unbelievable wisdom. Instead, he yawned and said "Nah, I don't feel like doing this, after all."

I think that Sokka and I both wanted to kill him equally as much at that moment. Zuko left, slipping away like a shadow, and all was pretty-much calm until a group of girls slipped through the back doors, saw our uniforms, and screamed.

Oh, damn.

_"AAAAAAAAH!!"_ screamed one of the too-much make-upped girls. (It was so high-pitched, it's a wonder our _skulls _didn't shatter.) The scream was joined in by the other three girls that were with her, which sent a _ton _of people running from the dance-floor, in our direction.

_Oh, damn._

"FIRE-NATION! IN THE HALLWAY! _FIRE-NATION SOLDIERS!!"_

And that's all it took to send the _entire _place into a mass of screaming, yelling lunatics. People ran for us, swinging chairs, broken glasses, and anything else they could find that could lacerate, pulverize or impale. I ducked a thrown glass just in time to push the doors open, expelling Sokka and myself onto the pavement, from which we began to run fast--and I mean _fast_- in the opposite direction. Or at least _he _did, I was too busy staring at Toph parents (who were more-or-less _dragging _towards a vehicle, strung up by some weird creature, emblazoned with her family crest--). Just then, I'd gotten _another _idea, that fit perfectly with the one I had yet to lay into action. I ran towards her parents, screaming like an escaped psycho, and they behaved _exactly _as I thought they would, by screaming _back_, and running around the building--dragging Toph unceremoniously with them-- into the already furious crowd, and becoming completely overcome by the sea of raging human bodies, both teenage and adult alike. I laughed, though, and then everyone saw _me_, and began running towards me, giving war cries.

CRUNNNCH!

A ring of stone erupted around them, encasing them into a ten-by-ten space, minus Tophs parents. I looked beside me to find Toph, arms raised in an Earthbending position, smiling wickedly. "Hey, Twinkle-Toes, looks like you were right, this _was _going to be fun!" I smiled weakly, and said "What, _I'm _not getting beat up?"

Her parents looked nothing short of _furious_. And I loved every minute of it.

_"Toph Bei Fong!"_ her mother screamed, her face the color of the Neon sign that Sokka had put outside the doors earlier. "What do you _think _you're _doing!?_" I

swear, I thought she was going to have a coronary. "These people are _madmen!_that boy is a _Fire-Nation Soldier! YOU are going to come with US RIGHT NOW and we'll take you BACK HOME where you belong!"_

I _couldn't _let that happen. I opened my mouth to begin a reply, when Toph seized me by the arm and dragged me forwards, saying "This is Aang, my Fiancé."

I couldn't think of anything to say, which was good, because my throat had closed up, along with the greater half of my brain shutting down.

_H-her...H-her Fiancée?_

Toph smiled demoniacally at her parents, who were staring, dumbstruck, at her. "_TOPH BEI FONG!" _her father "You've chosen to marry a _Fire-Nation Soldier _(he said it as if it were some kind of ancient blasphemy) _Soldier _over the boy we've picked out for you, who was not only _ROYALTY, _but was _RICH!?"_

"Yup."

Her father seethed for a few seconds, muttering wildly about things I won't repeat, finally, he said, in a shaken voice. "Then, I guess we have no choice." He turned towards his wife, and said "As of right now, The Bei-Fongs daughter is no-longer a _secret_, as of right now, she _no-longer exists."_

Her mother said nothing, she turned, instead, wiping away tears and followed him to their "car."

We watched them go in silence.

I turned towards a silent Toph, arms by her sides, and did the most natural and idiotic thing I could've possibly done at that moment.

I kissed her, and meant every second of it. She didn't resist, though, she let me hold her, while she was shaking (though from tears or anger I really didn't want to see, because I'd probably start crying as well.)

"Toph?"

"Mmmhmm?"

" You all right?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Good."

There were a few minutes of unbroken silence, and then.

"Aang?"

It took me a minute to realize that she was talking to me.

"Yeah?"

She took a step back, and sighed. "Are we still close friends?"

_Was this Toph I was talking to?_

"Only if you still wanna be."

She nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." She punched me in the arm, then, and smirked "This _doesn't _mean you're not getting your butt kicked, though."

I didn't really care, even _pain _sounded good to me.

She told me later that Daryl was just some random kid she'd dragged in, threatening him bodily harm if he didn't comply.

I remembered saying something an eternity ago, literally a past _lifetime _(before the whole "I'd-died-and-gone-to-Hell-bit)

"As much as reality screws up, it still sometimes gets things right."

You're at the ending, now. The end of the chapter, the end of the scene, as far as you have to go.

You don't _have _to go on, but you can if you want to.

If you've read the first part of this story, you remember something like this before the final parts?

This is it, again, here. This story has been mainly a romance, and upbeat stuff, yanno? Happy-Lovey-Dovey _bullshit._

I apologize, now, because as a writer that's really _not _my style.

So from here on, it's no-holds barred. I'm going to repay this romance with ten-percent A.P.R. and _interest_

None of the characters are going to die, though. Or, at least, none of the _main _ones.

**Here ends the First-person narration that by now I''m sure you've gotten tired of.**

The lights were down, Taku, Sokka, Suki, Aang, Toph, Katara, and Zuko were sitting at a table, each daring eachother to take shots of alcohol that Sokka'd smuggled from Hokiadas stash, when the lights went out.

All of them.

Onstage, JJ and Ty-Lee (who was no doubt wrapped around his neck like a Python) stopped singing Black Sabbaths "Falling off the Edge of the World" in mid note.

Aang sucked the last few drops from his shotglass and spoke "Why'd the power go out?"

From somewhere near his left, Taku spoke, and he sounded scared. "That wasn't the power."

Aang was cut off from a reply as the southern wall (the one opposite them) was torn off, revealing something _huge _and shadowy, outside.

_"No."_ that was Taku. "Aang, get everyone away, NOW!"

"What is tha--?"

_"NOW!!"_

Aang didn't argue, he just seized the person nearest him and slung them over his shoulder, having already transformed into Hellrasier as he did so. He grabbed the last of the occupants of the table away just in time to see what looked like a black _tongue _smash the table beneath it, causing people to scream out in terror, because they, unlike him, couldn't see in the dark. He flapped his wings, powerfully, gaining thrust and momentum half-carrying half-dragging his friends across the floor, when he heard a voice speak that he'd only heard once.

"So, you're all here, huh?"

_It made the air ripple and twist._

_Lucifer..._ The one JJ had called The Devil. He turned to see JJ flying overhead, limply, only JJ hadn't been flying, he'd been _thrown_.

He turned again to see Taku land beside him, sword in hand, screaming of rage and pain as he hacked the nearest Demons head off with a scream of metal -on- bone, and a gush of gooey, black blood.

He reached behind him, as JJ had told him to do and was once again presented with the bluish-colored blade, which once again turned red at his touch. He ran towards the nearest Demon, swinging the sword, and cleanly missed.

He was in return slammed into the ground, knocking the wind out of him, and stepped on, the Demon leveling its sword at his throat.

_Only a Hellrasier can kill a Hellraiser._ He didn't remember who had said that, but he _was _capable of being killed by them, Hellraiser or not.

He fingered his sword, trying to remember what JJ had said to make it turn into those Kodachis he had used before.

"_S-separate!" _sword moved closer.

Nope. Now he felt the sword actually pierce the skin of his throat.

"_Break!"_

Nope. Now it was becoming difficult to _breathe_.

"_S-split!"_

At long last, the sword broke down the center and he used both the halves to cleave the foot that was crushing him away from its owners body.

the Demon screamed, covering him in hot, steaming tar-blood until it's cries were silenced by twin Kodachis being rammed down its throat.

Aang wrenched the swords free, looking for another target, and found one resembling a human, except on all fours and was rotting as it lurked closer to his friends (It actually had Sokkas boomerang embedded in its forehead--though it didn't seem to notice--) and he ran forwards, screaming, and cut it cleanly in half, blanketing everything in muck.

Sokkas eyed widened to the size of dinner plates, and he remained mute, an unspoken question forever on his face.

Katara asked it for him. "Aang?" she said, in a voice that was half-wonder, half-fear.

It was still him, Hellraiser or not.

He didn't reply, and he didn't see the Demon that was lurking behind him until a well-placed throw of a Guitar beheaded it, drenching him even further in goo.

JJ landed beside him, and smiled nonchalantly. "Hey." He scowled at the approaching Demons and said to Aang, as Taku appeared beside him.

"It looks like they've found us."

Taku replied sarcastically. "No, you really think so?"

Aang screamed for both of them to shut up, and asked for Taku to do something that sucked the blood from his cheeks, and widened his eyes. "No way, Avatar."

Aang said that if he didn't do it, he'd go ahead and kill Taku himself.

JJ shrugged. "Whatever, man, it's not like we're going to die, anyway." And with that, JJ drew the symbol for Nightmare (on the elemental circle) and smashed Aang as hard as he could in the face with the guitar.

JJ stared. Taku stared.

"Did it work?"

Aang vomited a mouthful of black goo onto the ground, and lay still.

"Nope." Taku and JJ fought off the Demons who were now coming in _hordes_, until a slight rumbling sound alerted them of a new presence.

-BIRTH-

Aang the Avatar no longer existed. What had spawned from his body was eons older than he was, and just as many times as powerful. What appeared behind JJ and Taku, moving like a figment of shadow, yet solid as the body it was encased in, cannot be explained by their tongues or Aangs own. What they saw was so _obscene_, so absolutely _reviled _that they must not speak of it, for no one had actually seen it before, and survived to say so.

"_Khorne"_whispered a terrified Taku, and all that came out was a hiss of smoke. The creature was completely free of the _physical _Aang, yes, but it was not completely free of his _memories,_which filled the creature with an inexplicable rage, already mounted on top of the one that it had for those who had held it bound for nearly timeless amount of years, in just as many dimensions. Finally, after all this time, this fury could come loose in a whirlwind of Blood, War, Chaos and Absolute Rage

--those for what it was the patron of--

Khorne, god of Chaos, was free.

At first, nothing happened, a horrible silence stole over the room, complete with the weeping of the people both inside and out as they witnessed the collision of a world so long kept secret from them. The creature screamed, then, and the blast of sound alone was enough to rip the remaining building free of its supports and toss it away as if it were a wad of paper.

The demons surged forward, blanketing Khorne like so many maggots on a half-eaten corpse, and were ripped off by the _thousands,_to be thrown down or eviscerated by its claws with a meaty _THUCK_.. Khorne reached behind its back, to where a Battleaxe lay waiting, and unleashed a Hellish barrage upon the Demons that not even Toph could bear to watch.

-DEATH-

Screams, yells, moans of agony and rage laced the airwaves as the battle raged on. Chaos Flame, Hellfire and Blackfire flowed freely as the wind blew wildly throughout the room, desecrating everything that it touched, living and nonliving, alike. Khorne screamed, then, and began to spin, creating a vortex that _nothing_-not even itself-- could escape the lacerating touch of.

It was over. The war was over. Over, over, _over._

Taku, JJ, Katara and each of Aangs friends had survived the blast, crouching behind a shield woven of equal parts Angelic and Dark magic. Lucifer had gone, returning to Hell, not to come back for some time.

But what of Aang? What had become of The Avatar, who, at the moment of his ultimate transformation, had ceased to exist?

The Gaang as you know it, plus one JJ, one Taku, a shaking Ty-lee and a stricken Mai _and_Zuko approached the now-destroyed lot of what had been their school gym.

I say _lot _because there was no actual _building _left. Only a vast, empty space that was blacker than concrete and slick as polished glass. (Dried Demon-Blood)

The approached it cautiously, but refused to actually _step _on the black surface, leaving JJ and Taku to carry the body of the unconscious Avatar back to them.

He awoke when they set him down upon the ground, searching his friend's face, but not looking for an explanation, he knew fully well what had happened.

He sat up, inside the circle of the people who he called his family, and reached for a shaking Toph. When he did so, though, she pushed him away, and started crying.

Aang sat at the table, feeling cold. Nobody, besides JJ and Taku had spoken to him since the events that had unfolded last Saturday night. Though he couldn't really blame them, seeing your friend turn into one of the Gods of Chaos ought to be enough to scare _anyone_to a point of muteness.

That didn't stop it from being lonely, though, and painful.

He was sitting at the table, completely oblivious to the bright, sunny day outside, staring intently at a picture on the wall that said "Heavy Metal Thunder" (JJ and Sokkas idea of a joke) But he was completely oblivious to the picture, as well, and was instead lost in the blackness that had become his thoughts.

"Aang?"

He didn't hear, it at first. And then, once he _did _hear it, he didn't _want _to.

"Aang," said the voice, sounding stern. "I know you can hear me."

He didn't look up, but he said. "Yeah, I can hear you." He grinned terribly. "Maybe I'll go deaf, Toph, and you'll not be able to _see _me, and _I'll _not be able to _hear _you. How's that sound?"

Her face remained impassive. "You don't mean that."

"How do _you _know?" He sounded like a child, and like a fool.

"You forget, moron, _I can feel your heartbeat."_

_Damn. _He sighed, and laughed once, a humorless double Ha-Ha. "You got me."

"That's right. You can't fool the human Stenograph machine."

He looked at her in spite of himself. "Huh?"

"You said that to me once, remember?" she sat down at the table. "When you asked me out for a date this first time, last year."

He shook his head. "Don't remember."

"Well, you _did_. You, Twinkle-Toes the wuss, asked me out on a date. The greatest Earthbender in the _world."_

Aang groaned "And I think I've got bruises that'll never heal because of it."

She smiled, briefly "So, is it true?" she said this sadly.

"Is _what _true? you can tell when I'm lying, right?"

"Is the whole immortality thing true, you being a Hell-lifter, or whatever."

"Hell-_Rasier" _I said, laughing.

she nodded."Yeah, what you said."

The funny thing was is not that I was shocked, but that I _wasn't._

"Yeah, I'm stuck to live for all eternity with these (literally) damned powers, to repeat life over and over again until the end of time, or something."

She nodded, absorbing this. "So you're _stuck _that way?

"Yup." I looked at her, not daring to ask her this, but...

"Toph-"

"Yes, we're still _close friends_" she smirked "Unless you don't _wanna _be."

"Why wouldn't I _wanna _be?"

She smiled, and that was all the answer I needed.

We'd broken the rules... Not exactly broken, more like _obliterated_.

I didn't know what was going to happen, didn't know _when_, or _how_, or _why._

But I knew one thing, it _was _gonna happen. Equalized and Randomized...Chaos Theory at its finest.

"As much as reality screws, up, breaks itself around and makes a mess out of our lives... It sometimes manages to get things right."

I hoped that this was going to prove itself true, once again.


End file.
